For the dead we live
by Queenpoet20
Summary: A "friend," helps Jack with his grief by giving him a chance to say goodbye in a very unique way


**For the dead we live**

Disclaimer:I don't own the characters except Aroura. She's all mine but the rest belong to their respective shows.

Authors Note: Thank you to my wonderful Beta's who deal with my tremors and oddish typing. You save me

Summary:The Doctor arranges for Jack to meet another to help him understand grief and give him the gift of time.

**For the Dead we live**

Jack sat down in his quarters on the ship and drank yet another bottle of Thaxaian War Water. Though the liquor was ten times stronger than liquor found on any other planet it still didn't do what he wanted it to do so desperately to do. As he overreached for another bottle he stumbled over and fell off his bed and to sleep.

On the planet below Aroura Shaw, a long red haired beauty walked out her front door in the middle of the night feeling the presence of a new mind, a mind laden with pain, a pain that woke her from a dead sleep. She smiled down at the man snoring on her front step.

"I'll take care of him Aroura," came a gruff voice from across the street. Aroura knew the voice was that of her devoted guardian and friend Wolverine.

"He is no risk to me. A friend has put me in his way," Aroura said kneeling down beside the man stroking his face gently. "His pain is more than any should ever bear and still live. Will you please bring him inside to my bed?," she asked knowing Wolverine would oblige her.

"A friend?," Wolverine asked placing the man on Aroura round bed that sat in the center of her very large bedroom her bed was wrapped in gauze that hung from the ceiling.

Aroura walked out of her the bathroom, in her flowing night dress of purple lace and silk with a bowl of water with some wash clothes. With her mind she pulled one of her corner tables beside the bed and put down the bowl. "A friend to both him and I. A friend whom I share many a good memory. One of many who is also one of few," she replied with a riddle.

"I'm not Beast," Wolverine reminded her gruffly referring to another friend who was a genius by any standard.

"Even he wouldn't understand our friend. Let's just say the friend sent this man here because he needs something only I can give," she said as she manipulated the man taking off his coat, shoes and socks. She hung the jacket on a coat rack and put the shoes and socks near the door.

To Wolverine, Aroura was very safe in her own skin with an ethereal glow that made her seem Goddess like. She with four others, were the last of the original inhabitants who colonized the planet in 2250. Few knew Aroura's true age. Aroura stared at Wolverine as he sat down in a chair near the fireplace.

"You don't have to stay and I would prefer if you didn't," Aroura said.

"He could get violent," Wolverine stated with a concerned look in his eyes.

Aroura looked at Wolverine with utter confidence, "I am older than recorded time and have tangled with more than my fair share of men. He is too weak to even pose the slightest threat to me. Anyway if he did try anything I would just put his mind to sleep," she said matter of factly.

"Now go home to Rogue and I will see you at diner," referring to the Dinner the five originals were having to celebrate Rogue and Wolverine's 400 wedding Anniversary.

"If you need me….," he said letting his sentence trail off.

"You are never far. I know," she said. Though Wolverine actually lived almost two hours away by land with Rogue's flying ability he could be at her front door in seconds.

After Wolverine left, Aroura pulled a chair beside the bed and tended to her weary traveler. Aroura washed his hands and face with the cool damp clothes and, with her mind she probed into Jack's mind and slowly disconnected the strong emotion he felt over all the deaths he had witnessed and blamed himself for throughout his life. It was all these memories that had driven him from Earth and his true destiny.

Toshiko, Owen, Suzie, Estell, Grey, His Grandson Steven, the original Jack Harkness, and his beloved Ianto to name just a few. "So much to pain to carry, so much guilt you bear yourself. You search for the answers to the wrong questions Jack. And it is here you will find the right questions and answers so that you may return to the destiny that awaits you and the greatest of happiness you will ever know." Aroura smiled as at last her work was done and Jack rested peacefully.

A day passed and at last Jack felt himself wake up. As he lifted his hand to keep from hitting his head on the bunk above on the ship but he found it wasn't there.

"You're not on your ship," came a gruff voice.

Quickly Jack sat to find a tall muscular man staring back at him with eyes of pure fire.

"Wolverine. I told you not to scare him," came a serene voice from behind Wolverine.

Wolverine moved aside and Jack saw a vision of a goddess in grey silk garden dress. Aroura's red hair flowed like fire to her waist and framed her so perfectly.

Aroura sensed Jacks apprehension, "He won't hurt you. He's actually leaving," she said turning to Wolverine and eyeing him. "Don't you have an anniversary to celebrate with your wife?" she asked archly.

Jack saw that Wolverine was not eager to leave Aroura's side just by the look in his eyes.

"I made dinner and had it sent to your place. So go home, romance your wife and thank her for feeding me last night. Do not worry about me. Storm and Beast are near and last time I checked I could take care of myself," she said and shooed Wolverine out of her house.

After she left her room Jack found his teleport bracelet but it didn't work. He kept trying as he searched for his clothes, which had been removed.

"I'd take it easy if I were you Jack. You've been asleep almost two days and with what has happened to you I would have expected you to sleep longer," Aroura said coming back into the room and sitting down in a chair in front the balcony door.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Jack spouted still looking for his clothes. "And most importantly, Where are my clothes?" he asked staring at her.

With her mind Aroura opened a closet door to show him his clothes then shut it making Jack frantic, "A friend sent you to me," she said.

"I don't have any more friends. They're all dead," he spouted but was surprised to find the sting of pain that came with remembering those he had lost was gone.

"It's why he sent you to me," she said placing a robe on him with her mind's ability as she offered him a cup of tea and a seat.

"Who sent me to you, and why?" Jack asked pulling the robe close around the front.

"Take a guess. Who knows time travel better than anyone?" she asked eyes gleaming.

"The Doctor," he asked astonished.

"One and the same," she replied sipping her tea.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Ianto's love for you scared him. Did you know that?" she said bluntly.

Again, Jack expected pain but found none and Aroura smiled, "And that's why the Doctor sent you to me," she added.

"To take the pain away?" he asked.

"Not away, but dulled for a while. See, you aren't just grieving for the few friends you lost recently but you're adding all the centuries together making the pain worse and worse. Even though you had already healed from some of the deaths, you're still trying to kill yourself and it's not possible. The Doctor told you that," she said still sipping her tea.

"You don't know what it's like," he said slouching back in the chair.

"You'd be surprised what I know, Jack Harkness, who took the name of Captain Jack Harkness born in the Ohio in 1909, died in Britain in 1941. Did you know he had a good friend back in Ohio who knew his little secret and kept it for him," she asked? Aroura produced a picture of her in 1927 from a school dance with the original Captain Jack Harkness. One the back of the picture written in ink blurred by time, "To my girl Friday. Hidden are our sacred truths."

Jack sat up straight studying the image over and over a hundred times.

"You are a lot like him, though he was a tad more reserved sexually. But then again he was influenced by his time. A fear you never had to face for yourself," she said.

"Who or what are you?" he curiously inquired

"Simply put, I'm an enigma. The very first of the evolved human species that in Earth's future from your time period who will one day come to be a part of everyday society but, who eventually leave earth in search of their own freedom," she explained.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Now, Jack you know better to ask a woman her age," she said with fake surprise.

"And the Doctor sent me to you to take my pain away," he inquired?

"No, but for a far greater reason," she replied with a grin.

"And that is?" Jack asked nibbling on a scone.

"To learn a new lesson. A lesson that will help you with your ultimate destiny," Aroura explained with a large grin.

"My destiny," Jack said with a huff.

"Warriors are made for fighting, lovers for loving, dreamers for creating, workers to make the machines work, all of them have a purpose, but what about you and I. You and I are fixed points in time. That is our purpose? The others can look forward in fear or hope for death, where as you and I know it will never come," Aroura said.

"You're a fixed point?" he asked.

"There are always two from what I gather. Like the North and South pole we keep the universe in a kind of dimensional balance. Don't ask me how even the Doctor doesn't know but I am much older than you in linear time. What are you, max a thousand years old?" she asked knowing very well his age.

"More or less," Jack said with a cocky grin.

"It is 2012 now, in Earth years, and that is just CE. We aren't counting BCE, so just to get a drift of my age I know who and why the Sphinx exists, if Dragons really existed and why we don't see their bones," Aroura said with a grin.

"But then that means there was a Fixed point before me," Jack said.

"Yes, and there will be one after you. And eventually there will be one after me and from what I can see it looks like she is coming in the next millennia," Aroura said with a cocky smile of her own. She watched as it all sunk in. "Takes the pain away a bit by itself, doesn't it?" she said noted to the pain of loss.

"I don't know," Jack said thinking thoughtfully. "Losing Ianto and my grandson just….," Jack relived the pain for a moment.

Aroura reached into his mind seeing what he saw and knew it was time she revealed a bit more about herself. "Jack loving is never easy for you and I and I have been where you are now. I threw away everyone in my life and drank myself silly then I got so drunk I forgot to work and couldn't pay my debts and eventually I was sold into slavery. This is in Japan 1400 CE the time of the Samurai," she said producing an orb in front of them on the table and inside her life played out as she narrated the story.

"I was sold to a Clan to serve as a waiting girl to the Samurai leader Kato Yamamoto. He and his men served their Lord with great distinction and for that the Lord gave them much land and freedoms. I was so tired of living by this point and had just lost the latest of lovers. Mind you, I never take lovers lightly because I know I will outlive them. But still, I did as I was told finding the monotony of the work calming and relaxing.

Kato's wife found pleasure in beating me for and I even found enjoyment in the pain. I felt at last I was getting what I deserved for not being able to go into the next life with those I loved. For letting everyone down, because of my age and experience, I should have known better," Aroura said.

"What changed?" Jack asked.

"Kato," Aroura explained with a distant look in her eyes as she stopped talking and the story played out in the orb.

_ Aroura walked into the garden with a knife to clip some branches off the cherry blossom tree for inside the house. She held her skirt as she climbed the tree to get at the darker branches, suddenly, she lost her footing and slipped from the tree falling to the ground hard. She heard footsteps run toward her and a set of strong hands hold her down. _

_ "Don't try to get up. You could have broken a bone," the voice said._

_ "Not likely. Wasn't high enough," she responded brushing all the hands away and rising. When she noticed it was the master she had addressed she apologized, bowed and walked away. Kato watched with insightful eyes, wondering what the Gods had put in his path with her. That night, his wife beat her for disrespect. But it was the next day, her day of rest that had come to be a new beginning for her. As Aroura bathed with the other slaves in the lake she hid in a hidden cave she had found and, lay down on her stomach to feel the cold air across her moist back. She loved the cool wind in the cave._

_ "To a time I flee, Of better days, Of harder days and joyous nights. Of a lover's kiss, a husband's love to a better time I flee," Aroura said reciting a poem her last husband had written for her._

_ "Would you then my arms flee should I hold you," asked a male voice from deeper within the cave? _

_ Aroura jumped, but strong arms kept her from doing much more. _

_ "I mean you no harm. I too come to these caves to escape the world," he said and Aroura saw it was Kato._

_ "I meant no disrespect by my words. Merely a poem I know," she said not looking him in the eyes._

_ "Someone you love?," he guessed handing her his cloak to help warm her._

_ "My husband wrote it for me shortly before he died," she said truthfully._

_ "And you loved him?"_

_ "Too much," she recalled, getting to her feet and walking over to the entrance of the cave._

_ "Thus in his death you punish yourself for not being with him," Kato stated remaining where he was._

_ "In more ways than you know," she told him, admitting her pain, something she had never done before._

_ "You are stronger than you lead others to believe you know," he said still watching her._

_ "I have to be," she said blankly._

_ "Were you weak with your husband?"_

_ "I was a child again with him. For a time I forgot my past and the pain that stains my every step," she said, tears brimming in her eyes. "For a moment I was real woman again and the not ghost that everyone saw." Aroura dropped the cloak and dove into the water and swam away from the cave._

_ The image faded and fast forwarded 5 years to Aroura now in a pink Kimono in the garden with Kato, who has just returned from seeing his Lord. Kato's wife had been killed years earlier by an assassin, hoping to anger the Samurai by killing his wife. The trick had not worked but with permission of the Emperor Kato had avenged the death of his wife and taken the lands of a powerful lord who stood against the Emperor. _

_ Aroura smiled as they walked in the large estate garden, "Quiet beauty amongst constant chaos," she said referring to the men coming and going and the busy lives of the people around them._

_ "Such is the nature of all things," Kato agreed holding her hand tightly in his own._

_ "Life and death, beauty and ugliness," she supposed picking up a dead cherry blossom and letting the wind carry it away. Aroura knew Kato was in love with her, she was deeply in love with him and thus she also knew the truth had to be told._

_ "Do you remember when I first arrived how I cared for nothing and felt nothing?" she asked sitting against the far wall of the garden._

_ "Of course," he said sitting beside her. "You were still grieving the loss of your husband," he said with concern._

_ "Kato, I know my heart and my heart loves you," she said still gazing at him._

_ Kato smiled, "And I you and knowing you love me says more to me than anything else. The men all love you and are hoping we will marry and now we will," he said standing with excitement trying to pull her up with him but she._

_ "If you mean this, and I know you do, then you need to know the secret I carry, the one that made me lose my mind and ultimately brought me here."_

_ Kato sat down beside her and took both her hands in his listening intently. _

_ "Kato I don't die," she said seriously and stabbed herself with a knife he hadn't seen she had. Aroura fell back but after just a few seconds and after Kato checked for a pulse, Aroura woke back up. Aroura pulled the knife out and looked at Kato, "I am older than recorded history," she said staring him straight in the face._

_ "And you have never died?" he gasped in disbelief. _

"_No. I've loved and had children, but none became like me. I am alone in this world as far as I know. I've traveled the world from one end to the other and have yet to find another of my kind," she explained, gazing said into his dark brown eyes. "After my last was beheaded in France for a crime he didn't commit. After his death I somehow found myself grieving for all those I lost again. The pain was far too much for me to bear." _

_ "And your children," he asked?_

_ "None like me but I have had 338 boys and 262 girls , all of whom I watched grow old and die before me. Though by the time they died, I was no longer a mother to them, they instead called me friend or aunt never revealing my secret, not even to their own husbands and wives and children," she explained also producing a leather bound book that on each page was the name of a husband the years they were married and the life and death of each child. _

_ "The pain in your eyes is the burden you have borne for so long alone," he said stroking her cheek._

_ "I am the only one to bear it," she said as she openly cried the loss of so many of those she had loved and lost._

_ "For now your burden is mine as well. As you have guarded me and those I loved so shall I now guard you and your heart. If you will allow I will lighten your burden if but for a moment," he said as they stood, "If you will let me," he asked?_

_ "I would be honored to travel this journey with you," she said as they kissed _

_ Whoops and whistles could be heard all around them as others who had been watching and waiting at last knew their leader was now taken by his lady love. Aroura knew because of their allegiance to Kato and their honor as Samurai that they would keep her secret_

The orb went black and a tear fell down Aroura's face. Jack knelt beside her and wiped the falling tears away recognizing the pain. "It took you five years to grieve," he asked, surprised?

"Longer, I was with him Kato two years before the scene in the cave. Seven years to find what was right in front of us. But the real reason I showed you that was because of what Kato gave me," she said.

"A meaning to live," Jack said sarcastically.

Aroura shook her head and floated an image inside the orb. It was Kato's village but as time fast forwarded Jack saw Aroura there in different era's still embraced by all the locals, "He gave me a home," she said. "I wasn't just mourning the loss of people; I was mourning the fact that I had nowhere to just be me. Kato, with my permission, told the warriors my secret and they told their families. That secret built an invisible wall no outsiders saw but those inside the village always knew. Over the generations whenever I needed rest I merely returned to the Village and I was welcomed with open arms not just by my descendants but by everyone. For the first time since my first death I had a place to call Home," she said. "And it was more than just a building but a community all of whom knew my secret and who watched over me and loved me," Aroura stated reveling in the images of her one time home playing out in the orb.

Jack sat down with a sigh of resignation, _"_Been a long time since I knew home."

"You and I are drifters. Even though we are fixed points in time we drift around but you do have a home Jack. There are things I know about you things waiting to happen to you," she said smiling at him holding his face in her hands.

"Cardiff," he said.

"A physical location is only part of what makes a home a home. Cardiff is that location for you," she said smile.

"There is so much pain," he said looking at her. Aroura smiled and opened the closet with his clean clothes in it.

"Get dressed," she said reaching for a dress with her mind and changing clothes even in front of him. She never was shy about her body. Besides she knew he would never be interested in her.

Aroura went to fetch some things and when she returned to the room Jack was ready, "Picnic," he said noticing the basket in her hand.

"Something like that," she avoided offering him her free hand.

Jack took her hand along with the basket. "A gentleman never lets a lady do the heavy lifting," he said with a genuine smile

"You're no gentleman Jack Harkness," laughed, reaching to take the basket back.

"True and you are no lady, but you know the way so I will do the heavy lifting," he joked lightly manner. Aroura smiled and the two walked outside into the sun.

The small city Jack noticed wasn't that crowded though the homes seemed to be built on top of each other, "We prefer to be close to one another," Aroura explained reading his mind.

Ten minutes later they were on the banks of a river and Jack put down the basket kneeling beside the river and running his fingers in the water. "This planet is beautiful," Jack said.

"Took a few hundred years but nurture Mother Nature enough and she gives you the Garden of Eden," Aroura replied laying out a blanket then pulling out a box filled with baseball sized orbs inside.

"What are you doing?" he asked sitting down beside her?

"More like, what will you be doing," she asked taking the first orb out. She placed the orb in his hands as she moved herself to cradle him, "My powers are many and with one I can help you. You are going to be able to live the life you wanted with each person you want to. You can say goodbye to. I will then take then reproduce the memory into an orb and you can take it with you and whenever you need a moment with Steven you can touch the orb and be back to the memory you create," she said with a smile.

Jack looked up at Aroura with trusting eyes and held the orb in his hands closing his eyes and when he opened them Steven was before him kicking a soccer ball to him, "_Hi Uncle Jack," Steven said._

_ Jack smiled, "Hey sport," Jack replied kicking the ball back to him and for the next few moment they just kicked the ball around before Jack swung Steven around when he stopped Jack from making a goal._

_ In the next memory Jack stands before Steven as he got ready for his first date and Jack hands him the keys to a classic Ford T-Bird to drive. Steven is all smiles as he leaves and Alice chastises s Jack for letting him drive that car and Jack just smiled, hugging his daughter._

_ Another memory and Jack is standing in a waiting room as Steven paces the floor of the waiting room. _

_ "She'll be fine; Inato and Gwen got her here within seconds of receiving her call. Your little girl just got stuck is all," Jack kidded lightly_

_ "Stuck, they had to do a cesarean," Steven said fear present in his voice. _

_ Moments later a nurse came out and handed him his new born daughter reassuring him that his wife would be fine but that his wife wanted their daughter to meet his father. Steven beamed down at his new born daughter and felt as if he could fly, "This must be what you felt when Gran handed you mom," Steven said now knowing Jacks secret._

_ "And when I held you for the first time," Jack agreed. "The feeling never changes, Steven no matter how old you get," Jack says smiling down at his new Great Grand Daughter._

_ "She doesn't date till she is 30," Steven said tickling her nose._

_ "Nice try but she'll date before then no matter what you do," Jack laughed as Steven her to him. "The trick is to let Grandpa Jack do a thorough back ground check on each and every suitor and to scare all unsuitable ones away with guns and Weevils," Jack said making a face down at his granddaughter as Steven laughed. _

_ Jack looked at Steven, "I'm sorry it was you," he said to Steven._

_ "You save the world all the time gramps just this time I got to save it instead." Steven walked down the hall to his wife and awaiting life. _

_ A tear fell down from Jacks face as Aroura took the orb and placed it in a second box._

"Happy?" she wondered.

"I wish my Alice could have something like that," he responded.

"Don't worry. I will create one for you to give to her. I will use my gift to link minds and create what she needs most." She handed Jack the next one. And for the next 4 hours Jack said I love you, lived, laughed and loved with friends, family and lovers, even Grey. Before the last orb Aroura took a moment and handed Jack a glass of water.

"Does this hurt you?" he asked sipping the water.

"No. Sharing memories is the one ability I have had since I was a child. It used to drain me. But not anymore," she said.

"Have you ever shared memories with a lover?" he wanted to know

"You mean have I actually allowed them to watch the memory in my head as I am watching them in yours," Jack nodded. "Only once," she said.

"Kato," he said with a knowing grin.

"Kato. The most loved of all my husband's by far," she said with a smile as Jack took the last orb and smiled down at it.

"Ianto," he said and closed his eyes.

_ Jack opened his eyes to find himself in a restaurant with Ianto sitting in a booth. Jack felt his heart break seeing the man he loved so dearly looking so deflated and alone. The restaurant was decorated in classic 1940's era with Patriotic banners and pictures of war time. Jack walked over to Ianto and took his hand pulling the shy man out onto the dance floor._

_ Jack pulled Ianto close as someone sang Ella Fitzgerald's, "__Have you met Sir Jones__." Ianto placed his head on Jack's shoulder and Jack placed a hand on Inato's heart. _

_ "I've lived and died a hundred times, Ianto but none has hurt so much until I fell in love with you," Jack admitted as Ianto they danced. "I make jokes to keep everything light, so as not to bring everyone down. But I used to wish for death at times, Ianto, just so I can actually be reunited with my parents and friend," Jack said with a heavy heart._

_ "But you won't die and other people come to love and embrace you," Ianto said._

_ "And tonight I let a new person into my heart. It's yours, Ianto, and has been for some time." Jack lifted Inato's chin with his finger so their eyes would meet. "Ask your questions and I won't make any jokes this time. I'll tell you all about myself just promise not to run." _

_ "I'm not going anywhere Jack," Ianto said and then with a chuckle, "I'd miss your Coat too much." Jack and Ianto laughed._

_ The song ended and the two left together to make love at Ianto's loft where privacy was promised. Jack then saw time fast forward as he and Ianto committed their lives to each other and with Steven Alice and the rest of Torchwood stood in attendance. Both wore 1940's suits and this time Gwen cut in with the grooms and danced with Ianto to everyone's delight._

_ The years passed as aliens were caught and Weevils imprisoned. The team changed, Gwen going on to join up with UNIT as part of a Liaison program, Ianto went on to run his own cell of Torchwood, but Jack was always close teleporting to Ianto at a moment's notice, sometimes just for a quick snog between missions. Then after 50 years of marriage Ianto retired as Jack worked on. One day after Jack came home and helped Ianto into a chair on their deck, "How was work," Ianto asked he poured the two of them their evening tea?_

_ "Weevil activity is up," Jack said with a weak smile._

_ "And Steven loves that," Ianto laughed lightly_

_ Steven had joined Torchwood years earlier and loved a good fight as much as Jack did._

_ "Estelle called and sends her love and promises to come around during the weekend," Jack said referring to their adopted daughter who was traveling with The Doctor at the moment._

_ "Sounds wonderful," Ianto said taking a deep breath and looking at Jack, "We had a good run at it, didn't we?" Ianto asked holding Jack's hand._

_ Jack realized what was happening as he noticed Ianto's chest moving slower and slower. "I'll call a doctor," Jack said _

_ Ianto simply smiled, "I'm old. It's my time just stay with me," Ianto told him_

_ Jack picked Ianto up and carried him inside to their bed laying his jacket on top of him as he got into bed beside him. _

_ "I always loved this jacket," Ianto said with a weak grin as he rubbed his hands against it lightly. On the walls were pictures of Jack and Ianto with their 4 adopted kids as they grew and took up lives on their own. Two girls and two boys all now working with Unit or Torchwood, save Estell who was with The Doctor. The pictures of the extended family of Toshiko and Owen and their own wedding both grinning like Cheshire cats. Gwen and Rhys pictures with their 2 kids as they grew up, now both kids were working for Unit Gwen having died 2 years earlier, killed by a drunk driver. _

_ "I loved seeing you wear it in the mornings as you made breakfast," Jack said with a grin._

_ "Had to make sure you wouldn't run out without saying goodbye and you never leave your jacket behind," Ianto recalled with a shaky breath._

_ "I never left you behind either," Jack added as Ianto faded more and more._

_ "I got my wish," Ianto said as he died. _

_ Jack cried kissing him one last time. "And I got mine," Jack whispered_

Aroura handed Jack a handkerchief and rubbed is back as he came out of the memory, "What a life to live," she said.

"It's what he wanted," Jack replied.

"It's what you both wanted or you wouldn't have been able to see it. My gift influences the mind. It only allows what we truly want to happen," she explained.

Jack just smiled as Aroura held him and he cried. Jack cried, not just for Ianto but for all those he had loved and lost, speaking their names and allowing himself to mourn. An hour or so passed as and the two just watched the river and shared with each other their memories and dreams.

"You have to go soon," Aroura said as she stood securing the four extra orbs she had created while they had just sat there together. One Orb was for Alice, One for Ianto's sister and one for Gwen. The final Orb was a collection of memories for Gwen and Jack to share of what life could have been like if Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto had never died.

"Back to Cardiff," Jack said as they walked back to her place.

"You've been gone three Earth years," Aroura said.

"I could just go back in time and return the second after I left," Jack said tapping his wrist. For the past three years he had been jumping around time and space, which allowed him to be on this planet in 2230.

"No, the Doctor fixed that function again. It will take you back to Cardiff in 2012 exactly three years after you left but no time travel only location travel," Aroura said looking at him

"Typical," Jack said shaking his head.

As they arrived home Aroura pulled food out of the refrigerator with her mind and put it on the table. They hadn't had food on the picnic and both were starving. They sat down at the table eating and talking about life and love through life times. Aroura told Jack about the original Jack and Jack told Aroura about life on his home world.

"So you and Kato, how large a family did you have," Jack inquired?

"Ten children in all 8 boys and 2 girls all of whom made it to adulthood witch given that time period you know is a miracle," Aroura said with a grin. "Kato lived to be 96 years old witch for a Samurai is amazing to say the very least," Aroura said.

"Did you stay put or leave after his death?" Jack asked.

"I traveled. Returned after thirty years away to find everyone still there and welcoming me home as if I had only been gone for a few days. It was as Kato had promised. I finally had a place to be me again," she said as both listened to the ring of the clock as it sounded the midnight hour. Jack rose to leave but Aroura stopped him, "Before you leave one toast," she said and handed Jack a shot glass of Vodka.

"To those past we salute you, to the road ahead we rise to meet you but most of all we celebrate with laughter and love this very moment," Aroura toasted and Jack nodded as they slugged down the shots.

Aroura hugged Jack but before she could pull away Jack pulled her into a passionate kiss. At first Aroura fought but then allowed the kiss to happen enjoying the feel of his lips pressed to hers.

"Just had to know," he said as he beamed away.

Aroura shook her head after he beamed away and laughed, "Could've, Should've, would've," she said with a distant smile playing across her lips.

**IN Cardiff 2012**

Jack arrived back in time and located the new Hub with his scanning device. Still in Cardiff on the center of the Rift just as he knew it would be. Gwen would have insisted on it so they could maintain and watch alien activity. Jack beamed down in the center of the new Hub to find Gwen and scary Ms. Johnson, Lois Habiba, and Martha talking and discussing new issues.

"One guy, four beautiful women. You can't begin to imagine what I am thinking right now," Jack said with a wicked grin.

**Authors 2nd note:** Do you want a part 2. Want to know how Gwen reacts to Jack being back? Review and let me know


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